San Davis
(Monday Sermon, October 1, 2012)
"AS
THE DARKNESS DESCENDS UPON THIS WORLD, LET US WALK AS CHILDREN OF
LIGHT" !
The increasing darkness in this world is a sign that the night is coming
when we will no longer be able to work. The children of light are the
people who are in the Lord. They are in Christ and are blessed with
every spiritual blessing. Their life is hidden with Christ in God
awaiting the time of eternal manifestation with Christ. Yes that's us
brethren, we are those in the Lord who walk in the light and are
Children of Light, the Bride, the Remnant, Set apart!
(John
9:3-5) Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but
that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works
of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can
work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Saints of God we are living at a time, where it imperative that we know
the voice of Holy Spirit. To know His voice we must come into a close
relationship with the Lord, so when He speaks, we will know without a
shadow of a doubt that it is Him who speak. As children of light we
should always be able to recognize His voice and His direction, so when
He says go this way, or do this or do that, you will know it’s the
Spirit of Almighty God speaking.
When we are not on our face
before the Lord, when we’re not in the word daily praying, or talking to
Him on a regular basis, then when something happens unexpectedly, it
will be really hard for us to know how to handle it. . As the darkness
descends, we the children of light need to be face to face with God. We
should be walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit, we have to be
close enough to hear and know His voice. We have to be so close, that
when unexpected things begin to happen we will know His voice and not be
deceived. We are the light of the world. We must go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature before the darkness falls. We
tend to preach to the reached. We must go into all the world and preach
to the unsaved. The world is not inside your church; the world is
outside of it and it is hurting.
(Matthew 9:37-38) says "the
harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore to the
Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His
harvest." Jesus presented a problem, the laborers are few. Jesus gave
the solution: pray. Intercessory prayer is to be done first to have the
laborers sent forth, that is us, we are the laborers. We are to reach
out to the lost.
DARKNESS IS THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT
When
something is pitch black, there is no light there. Jesus is light, His
very being is light. When that light lives inside of us, we are able to
use it to shine on the darkness. We are then able to see those things
that the enemy tries to use to deceive us. The thing that gives us the
ability to discern evil from good, is Gods Holy Spirit that lives within
us.
(Luke 11:35) “Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.”
(Ephesians 5:8) For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.
(Romans 13:12) The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore
let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of
light.
BE CAREFUL THAT YOU ARE NOT DECEIVED
In this world
we are living among deception. The bible indicates, that in the last
days the deception will be so convincing, that if we are not made aware
of these evils, even the very elect would be deceived.
(Matthew
24:24) For false Christs will arise, and false prophets, and will show
great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they would
deceive the very elect.
The only way we will be able to discern
what is good from evil, is by getting close to God and reading His Holy
words, the bible. If we allow the world to dictate to us, what is good
and what is evil then, this knowledge will not be based on the absolute
biblical truth. The world system has been slowly corroding the bible
values that the Lord laid down, the morals and decency in our homes,
schools and places of employment, replacing them with homosexuality and
depravity.
They are deliberately usurping Godly values,
destroying the foundation of Christianity and the foundation of
morality. Slowly destroying the character and nature of God, in order to
replace it with their own set of so called morality. We see the sins
and depravity around us everyday. Once they have accomplished their
agenda, you will then be compelled to accept, their version of morality.
Unfortunately 98% of the people will agree because they lack
reverential fear of God. Many who grew up in Christian homes, on solid
biblical foundations get to a point where they are no longer able to
discern right from wrong or good from evil. Most, no longer know what is
the righteous and Godly thing to do.
(Isaiah 5:20) “Woe unto
them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light,
and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter”
(John 3:19-21) This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but
people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light
for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the
truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what
they have done has been done in the sight of God.
AS CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT, WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO EXPOSE DARKNESS
The children of light expose darkness while the children of darkness
revel in darkness. The children of light point the way to heaven while
the children of darkness point the way to destruction. The bible tells
us, resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Paul reminds us
that we were once darkness without Christ, the Lord. Occasionally
thinking upon our lost condition in sin helps us remain thankful toward
God and helps keep us humble while walking among those in darkness. In
doing so, we are to walk together in unity by displaying the attitudes
crucial for maintaining unity, understanding the basis of the unity we
have in Christ and utilize the gifts given by Christ to His church that
serves to keep the body of Christ together and growing. Now the
difficulty with walking as children of light is that the people walking
in darkness do not like it when we refuse to participate in the deeds of
darkness because we expose their actions for what they are darkness.
(Jonn. 3:19-21) Jesus said: "And this is the condemnation, that the
light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the
light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be
clearly seen, that they have been done in God" Each person is either a
child of light or a child of darkness. We are known by our deeds, light
or darkness.
APOSTLE PAUL ADMONISHES US TO HAVE NO FELLOWSHIP WITH UNFRUITFUL WORKS OF DARKNESS
The children of light bear the fruit of the Spirit thus proving what is
acceptable to the Lord. The fruit of the Spirit is the sum of all
goodness, righteousness, and truth as opposed to the works of the
flesh.. By bearing the fruit of the Spirit the children of light live a
life continuously proving, testing, proving by testing and learning the
things which are pleasing to God and are a light to the world exposing
the evil works of darkness. So Paul says that we are to have no
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose
them. As Paul continues the metaphor of light verses darkness, this
principle is easy to understand: light cannot participate with darkness
else it is not light. Therefore our fellowship with those living in
darkness is limited to the things associated with the light which are
all goodness, righteousness and truth. Hence, we cannot have fellowship
with those living in darkness while they are engaging in the deeds of
darkness nor should we speak of those shameful things.
(2
Corinthians 5:17) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become
new.
WALKING IN THE CHARACTER OF JESUS WHO IS LIGHT
Jesus
said in order to serve Him we must follow Him, and where He is there His
servant will be also. Jesus does not call us to shine in places where
His light is already shining brightly; just as He invaded the darkness
with His life upon the earth so too must we. If your light is not
shinning very brightly it may be that you are in a place that already
has some light. The greater the darkness the brighter your light can
shine. Jesus is calling each of us to meet Him in a dark place where He
can shine through us. And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and
satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and
thy darkness be as the noon day,
(Isaiah 58:10) Every time we
miss an opportunity to express God’s love through good deeds, we miss a
revelation of Jesus and so do the people that needed us.
As
children of the light, walking in the light of God, we walk in the
character of God, the nature of God. Discerning right from wrong, good
from evil, truth from a lie by walking in righteousness and holiness
before God and man. The only way to do that is by having a true
relationship with Him, where He imparts in you, His righteousness,
Godliness and justice. By reading the word of God, we learn about His
nature and character. If you are living in sin, by lying, cheating,
gossiping, slandering, committing adultery or living in fornication,
then you are not walking or living in the light. There are many people
with good hearts, but they do not know Jesus, and therefore they are not
walking in the light. If you have a good heart, eventually you will
come to the light, you will not be afraid of the light. Those who are
afraid of light, those who are afraid of truth and spiritually
disconnected. Truth is light and light is truth, truth is also life.
(John 14:16 ) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”The same way as darkness
is equivalent to death and death to darkness.
Why be concerned
about putting off the old man and putting on the new man? When
Christians act like the old man, it grieves the Holy Spirit. By the Holy
Spirit we were sealed for the day of redemption. Therefore, we ought to
put away those things befitting the old man (bitterness, wrath, anger,
clamor, evil speaking, malice). And in it's place we need to put on
those things befitting the new man (being kind, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another just as God forgives us in Christ)
IN CONCLUSION
As I draw to the close of this message, I must state, what a contrast
there would be if all those in the church, truly carried out the
admonition to (Walk in the Light,Truth and Holiness, in the midst of
darkness). The church would stand out like a city that is set on a hill.
People in the world, though their understanding is darkened by greed,
lust, pleasure, idolatry, drunkenness and self-gratification, seeing the
church as the example of righteousness, might be more likely to come to
see the truth that is in Jesus. But, what hope is there if the church
is more like the world than the beacon of Light that brings people to
Jesus?
Brethren, be careful not to react with attitudes that
are more in keeping with the old self. Let the world see us united, the
church, the bride of Christ, as having been sealed for the day of
redemption. Let's be sure to react in righteousness and true holiness
and walking worthy of our calling.Now is the time to seek Jesus. If you
do not know Him or have departed from your faith in Him. Now is the time
to come to the light, for Jesus is the light. Now is the time to invite
that light to live inside of you. We are living in the End Times and
there is no more time to play around.
(John 12:35-36) says "my
light will shine out for you just a little while longer. Walk in it
while you can, and go where you want to go before the darkness falls,
for then it will be too late for you to find your way. Make use of the
light while there is still time; then you will become light bearers."
(James 4:17) “Therefore, anyone who knows what is right but fails to do it is guilty of sin.”
(1 Peter 1:14-16) “Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in
spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be
conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but
like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your
behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
(John 12:35) “Then Jesus told them, You are going to have the light
just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before
darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know
where he is going” The Spirit of God is moving upon His people and His
voice is saying shine forth My light to the nations. Arise, shine; For
your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For
behold, the darkness (obscurity) shall cover the earth, And deep
darkness (gloom) the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His
glory will be seen upon you.
(Isaiah 60:1-2) We are entering a
time of greater darkness upon the earth but it will also be a great time
of experiencing the glory of God, for those who allow His glory to
shine through them.
San Davis
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